Experimental verification of a control law for the position and attitude of two objects using multiple coils

Abstract

This article presents a method for relative position and attitude control for reconfigurable space structures using magnetic force with a multi-dipole system. This technology can be applied to the docking phases of space structures that can restructure themselves by assembling basic structural units. The focus of this research is on current control of dipoles, which produces strong nonlinear magnetic forces, and on the development of a method to control a strong nonlinear electromagnetic system. In a previous study, the feasibility of using this method to perform relative position and attitude control was investigated by conducting a series of three-dimensional simulations of position and attitude control. In this study, experimental verification of the control method is conducted to determine whether magnetic forces can be used to correct position and attitude simultaneously. The good agreement obtained between the simulation results and the experimental results confirms the effectiveness of our proposed method.